W123TE fuel tank inspection / removal

[Top banana]

looking for advice on this one

have a W123 estate with a slight weep from tank when fulled to brim, with a small damp patch where main filler pipe enters tank.

is there any access to tank from under boot floor (or extra seat row in my case) or am I looking at having to drop the entire tank out to inspect ?

any comments would be helpfull

cheers - Tb

 

[219]

Drop the tank - it is a very common problem . The other thing is that the short flexible hoses where the fuel lines connect sometimes weep .

If it is ( as usual ) just where the neck joins the tank , you can clean up the surface with sandpaper then paint the suspect area with PetroPatch ( basically fibreglass ) Edit - you can do this part from under the car without removing the tank . If it is worse and the tank is leaking at the seam where the two halves meet , you would need to remove the tank and seal internally with slosh around tank sealant . Mercedes will doubtless be able to supply a new tank ( at a price ) , Mark Cosovich would probably have a good used one , or you could get someone like PD Gough ( who recently made my stainless steel exhaust system ) to fabricate a new tank using your old one as a pattern ( they list this service on their website ) .

You can get access to the sender unit through the floor - but that is all .

 

[219]

Oh , and check the condition of the hydraulic pipes for the sls while you are under there .